Sunday, August 11, 2013

A Look Back At August 2012 and What's Happened Since

Detroit Now a Third World City

The Ruins of a Once Great City

On August 4, 2012, I wrote my first posting, “U.S. Now A Banana Republic”. This post could have
been written off as a rant by political comedian Bill Maher were it not for the
fact that the entire state of Michigan is now in deep water economically and the
city of Detroit is in default and bankrupt. It has come to pass that the city cannot be saved.
Both the American system of government and the economic system resemble
an oligarchy more than a capitalistic democracy. Remember: America came up with the Marshall Plan after World War II -- and now we can't save Detroit or New Orleans. Maybe the Detroit city fathers should turn the Detroit football stadium into a soccer stadium. All third world countries have soccer.

What is Really Going On In Rio?

Last year, one of my first posting was about Julia Michaels who was writing about the turbulent changes going on in Rio de Janeiro in her blog Rio Real. She wanted to know how, with all the changes, could there still be parallel improvements in income equality and social justice. She saw potential change amid so much chaos, so she kept asking: "Will It Last?" Julia got her answer just last month when a few million people across Brazil took to the streets to protest the changes that had disrupted their lives. The police are in disarray, the people in Rio are looking to dump their city officials and construction has come to a virtual halt on Olympic and World Cup projects. What happened to the promised social justice programs that were supposed to be built in tandem with the new soccer stadiums? For the answer: Read Julia's most recent posting.

Don't Go to Russia If You Are Gay

Vladimir Putin, evidently no longer worried that a handful of young
female punk rockers could topple his regime, has moved on to torment gay people
in Russia. With two of the Pussy Riot Girls
remaining in a Soviet-era gulag the past year, Putin's new assault on civil liberties sets the stage for a Nazi-style repression unseen since Hitler began rounding up the gays and gypsies in the late 1930s. In any event, no one has told Putin yet that parading
around bare chested after taking off his shirt at every public event is pretty gay
by most standards. Putin himself no longer has control of events. Olympic organizers are giving Vancouver another look as an alternate site for the 2014 Winter Olympics, already plagued with delays and corruption and Soviet politics.

Arsene Wenger Refuses
to Break Vow of Silence

A year ago the Arsenal manager lost his best player from the squad in a heart-breaking defection to Manchester United, which won the English Premier League title with the help of the striker's outstanding season. Meanwhile, Wenger's team struggled to a fourth-place finish and narrowly made it into the Champions League without a striker who could take Arsenal to a championship. Wenger endured several public protests in the streets by fans who wanted him fired. With the new season set to begin in several weeks, Wenger is no closer to landing a top striker. At one point Wenger had his choice of five of the world's best. In my post, "What Is Wenger Not Telling Arsenal Fans?” I thought he would have explained his reasons for not signing someone. He has chosen silence. I am going to answer the question for Wenger: “ I’m not going to
bankrupt the club chasing an over-rated striker who wants $50 million US to
play for Arsenal." It's a reason he's often used in the past, but not one fans want to hear again.

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All my blogs now rolled into one

My intention as a writer is to be happy and inspired. My challenge is to change moribund and banal narratives buried in traditional thinking. I think inspiration is what keeps an artist involved in the process of creativity, not rationale.